Sunday 9th January - Weston Super Mare match, River Axe, Bleadon.

 Happy New Year all.

I did venture out on my local River Kenn on the Wednesday before this match and never had a bite. There were a lot of other anglers on the Kenn who had the same experience, but ....that's the Kenn as they say! Too much water coming off the Moors, an overnight frost and a high tide didn't help.

Team mate Sam Johnson and I were meant to be fishing the River Tone 2 day Festival this weekend but it was put back until next weekend due to the high river levels.

Sam who is Secretary of the WSM Club invited me to his Club's match on the River Axe which I fished last January before Lock Down and had a great day on the roach fishing the whip so was looking forward to it.

Sam pegged either side of Bleadon Bridge and I did favour the downstream section as this is where I had 28lb of roach. Sam had fished upstream of the bridge last Sunday and had a lovely day. High tide was at 11:30 but unlike my local river Kenn the Axe still flows the right way when the tide is coming in.

At the draw I picked out P2 which was where I favoured. 

Rain the day before and overnight had put the river up, fast flowing and coloured but Sam was confident we would catch.

Above me on peg P1 was Dominic Sullivan who said he had walked the stretch the day before and there were loads of fish topping but today there wasn't a sign of any.

I had a platform to set up on but the river would eventually cover it when the tide came in.

All of the area behind me would be under water (lucky I was a submariner!)

I set up 2 x 6 metre whips with 3 gram rigs (just in case one got trashed) and a 4BB Crowquill for trotting down the middle. Mixed up a bit of Gros Gardons and Noire to get the bait down quickly in about 4 foot of water.

We started at 10 o'clock and after 20 minutes without a bite Dominic shouted that it was not looking good as did the guy below me as they had no signs either.

About 15 minutes after that Dom had a small roach on the running line.

The angler below me also had a roach and then foul hooked what looked like a skimmer, hmmm not good.

It took me another hour to get my first bite and I missed it plus the next one. By now Dom was catching regular and the angler below was getting the odd roach by laying on.

Another 20 minutes must have gone by before I hooked my first roach on the crow quill rig but it didn't feel right as the float was too light. I got off my box and put on an 8BB one which performed much better and I had a roach soon after I stepped up.

Due to the tide coming in you had to constantly alter the depth.

I had a bonus small bream just under 2lbs right at the end of the trot which surprised me but very welcome.

Putting in the odd ball of ground bait with chopped worm and caster brought me a few more roach toward the end of the match but I knew I was out of it really. Word on the bank was the upstream pegs were really struggling. Sam actually rang me at the halfway point and said he had not had a bite.

Dominic ended up with 11lb plus of nice roach to win the match.

2nd place also came from the end peg in my section and that went to Darren Greenwood with 10lb plus.

I ended up with 4lb 14oz (5th overall) the two weights above me were 5lbs plus so not that far away after a poor start.

The best weight above Bleadon Bridge was 5lb 2oz was Jason Fern helped by a 2lb bream.

If I fished the same peg under the same conditions again I would set up a straight lead as well or a maggot feeder. I'll be on the Axe again in 2 weeks time.

Tomorrow I'm back on Acorn Fishery to sample the dark side again as the tide is all wrong to fish the Kenn the next Saturday and Sunday is the 2 day River Tone Festival down at Taunton.

So it's pretty busy on the fishing front at the moment.

Sunday 3rd January - Pleasure session River Axe North Somerset

 Happy New Year all.

I met up with team mates Sam Johnson and Chris Hook today to fish the River Axe just outside Weston Super Mare. Sam who is Secretary of Weston AA assured us we would have a few bites, well we have heard all that before but after checking their Facebook Page I could see what they caught on their Christmas Match toward the end of December. 30lb won the match, there were quite a few skimmers that made up that weight but there were also good backing weights of roach.

I have fished the Axe once before back in the 80's and believe I blanked in a Bristol P O Club match. 

I picked Sam's brains a bit .... just bring a pint of caster and a pint of maggot, fish the 3 gram whip or a small crowquill.

We met up around 08:30 and went downstream of Bleadon Bridge, an area called the ''Paddock''. it was a fairly easy walk with the light gear but a bit muddy.

We fished off 3 small platforms all in a row. The water was going quite fast but the tide also affects this part of the river. High tide was around 10:30, sam said the flow would slow down but not go still like my home water the River Kenn. There was a bit of colour in the water as well and fish were toping all over the place with pike and big perch chasing them.

It didn't take long to set up as the whip rig and crowquill were already on winders ready to go. Just a case of plumbing up. It was around 6 foot at 6 metres but expected to drop about 2 foot or more during the session after the tide turned.

Chris also set up a whip and quill the same as me but Sam had a 5 metre whip and a 6 metre. One of his rigs was 4 gram to fish worm for big perch.

First trott down and I had a 2 oz roach straight away, Sam and Chris were also into fish immediately.

I was feeding caster quite heavily with double red maggot on a size 20 with the whip. The fish were really having it and after 2 hours I had got through a pint of caster. Luckily I had another pint so topped up the bait tray. 

I walked down with a coffee to watch Sam who had bait dropped in some worm and was fishing half a dendra on his 4 gram rig, he was holding back hard and although he had to wait a while for a bite he did get some big billies.

Chris was also loving the fishing, bite a chuck and had a few hybrids.

Went back on my box and looked up to see Chris play a big fish on the whip, he done well to land it and must have been about 6lbs.

I started feed heavy with maggot mixed in with the caster and must have almost had a roach every put in plus some stamp roach and a big perch.

What a session and we called it a day at 14:30.

All of us weighed over 20lb each, Chris and Sam 22lb and I had 28lb, simply lovely.

Sam with his bag incl a nice perch

Chris didn't mind the mud

Plenty of bites kept me warm

What a great session, I'm back again next Sunday for a WSM Club Match, can't wait.